More on the Tories, I'm afraid.

I see that the pro-European wing of the Conservative party won a clean sweep of all the top positions in the (contested) election of their leader and officers of their MEP group in the European Parliament.

Bad news for David Cameron's plans to remove them from the mainstream Christian Democrat Group in the EP, which lunatic scheme most of his MEPs opposed.

Good news for the Tory party as a whole, showing a return to common sense on Europe?

Don't count on it - their dedicated Europe-haters are already complaining and scheming to unseat pro-european MEPs in their reselection ahead of the next European elections. As their choice of candidates is done, not by postal vote of all their members, but at an open meeting which few can attend, it is usually a matter of organisation and who can bus in the most supporters. The ultra-Eurosceptics are dedicated, organised and very well financed. They are already planning their move.

The comments on Iain Dale's post about Kirkhope's re-election illustrate, on a small scale admittedly, some of the depth of feeling against pro-Europeans in the Conservative Party. View them by clicking here